BUTTER-DEALERS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 308, 22 September 1908, Page 5

BUTTER-DEALERS.

A CHARACTER SKETCH. THE CHASE FOR THE PRECIOUS OUT- / PUTS. The following character sketch of dairy produce agents is; by. a writer in the "El< ttiam Argus":—, ' , .- ' "With the spring como the butter-dealers to New Zealand., They aro. of two classes— those who take butter on. consignment, and those who buy outright;" and 1 never by any chance does a dealor belong to both classes or change from one class-to the other. His cheeks would blanch at the mere idea ! Not that thero is any necessary distinction between the classes as far. as'the personalities and methods of working of tho buyer and consignco go. Any' difference amongst - the men is merely accidental'and not a class distinction. Tho manner of their coming is as follows About tho middle of t :tho English summer, which is-the. Now Zealand winter, one of the dealers'is missing from his usual haunts in London, and,the story gets abroad that the.rumour that he is confined to bed is'incorrect, and that he has really stolen a march and is now sailing to New Zealand. Promptly the shipping offices are besieged by nien . who grudge having to leave English rosos for tho blasts of Mount Egmont, and -,'Vho begrudge having to make the fortunes of New Zealand liotelkeepers so quickly,' but who.''nevertheless;--are in feverish anxiety to catch the noxt. boat. They cannot allow/a rival to . get too far ahead. In due time tliey land in Wellington, and after feeling the pulse there they make their appearance, one by one, in the. country towns of the dairying districts. Each as he arrives buttonholes the chairman of 'directors of -the local dairy company, and ■: pours into his ears, willy nilly, irrefutable: arguments 'why the company should consign, and should consign with Messrs. Jones and Brown, which is not only the largest-firm of its kind iii the world, and the most'benevolently disposed to New Zealand 1 farmers;: but ; 'has a reputation to lose,, sir'; ; or : why, on;.the other hand, the firm should sell to Messrs. Black and Smith, who, although .the: market is going to be very weak, are willing to give lid; for the output in order to tide the dairy, company over the bad-season.

"Loaving these arguments to saturate the .mind of tho director, the ..butter-dealer goes off to the next town, where, as good fortune will have it, the-'county council is sitting. For good fellowship the; butter-dealer-invites, the councillors to dine at his expense. Then 4 a visit has to be paid to the, local factory, where, mayhap, i a mean rival'has pasted a newspaper article derogatory, of the dealer'sfirm on the -wall. This has to be answered by pencilled comment. So the- dealer goes from town to town, here buttonholing a director who had,previously escaped;hijn,*and shadow- ■ ing_ chairmen _of dairy companies at the fao-* tories, at their private residences, in hotels, and,even to the doors of churches. Towards September chase; gets, warmer, - and the dairymen get their backs; to the wall and have "it out. Tne directors of two ..or three companies; in one district meet together, the representatives of the various firms are admitted ;one by one and given a .certain time to urge their, claims, and as the sun sets and the directors are thinking of the cow's they will; not igilk that night the. last of some scorQ of.dealers is perorating vigorously. ' ' ''Wonderfully persistent are tnese buyers; They leave newspaper ..reporters far behind, and'- even, out-distance ilife-ins.urance < agents. . Some t insinuate themselves- on the. attention of dairy company directors, and while they profusely apologise for'their intrusion, they give the Jmpressipn .that .they, ,be hurt if they_ are not- heard. Others are more .blunthon being; a instant" wear- away a stone. Some have travelled, and will mingle, tales of consignment with descriptions,;pf lofty mountains that,fling their ambitiousipeiiks to" meet :the snow clouds,V or tell 'you that' they, have travelled. 50,000 miles since ■ they: were last in New Zealand. • .. Some, are typical - young Englishmen,'. clean. shaven,' and. full'' of restless; energy pothers' are fcarded and solemn, and, make'up in knowledge .of the tricks of the,trade ; what they'lack in', energy. : Finally, they are; all remarkable talkers. If worth. their while, they will.talk from cock-crow to cock-crow."